Kurt Cobain born February 20, 1967, died at 27 would be 42

For me… words like “Legend,” and “Great,” and “Genius,” get thrown around waaaaaay too easily, but in some cases its well deserved. Bands come and go, singers and songwriters come and go, but some of them stay with us for a long long time. Kurt Cobain was one of these individuals, for me. He didn’t save the world, he didn’t come up with a cure for cancer, but he touched a lot of people in the short time that he was on this planet. Every generation has someone that speaks to the youth. Luckily my generation had a few. Kurt Cobain was certainly one, and Tupac was another. When you think about the pictures that they painted, and you think about the way that they described and spoke to a period of time, it is unbelievable.

Obviously with all the bad there was some bad that came along too. Ummmm, there were the drugs. The irony for me, is that some of the good, actually comes from the bad. Saying that Kurt Cobain had issues with drugs and dependence would be an understatement, and to be totally honest, there was a time when I was upset with him for the way it all ended.  Kind of like the way I was upset with the Biggie and Pac situation, or upset with Lenny Bias, or Heath Ledger, or whoever, but as I’ve gotten a little bit older, I have changed the way I look at it. I used to almost blame these guys for pissing away all of their good fortune behind some bullshit. On some level, and in some cases, bs is all that it is, but many times you just throw your hands up and say, that’s the way the ball bounces.

For me, we are all put here on earth to just live and just be. Some people are blessed with abilities to do things that we have only dreamed of, but when it comes down to it, they are just like you and I. They have the same struggles and successes in life that you and I have. It may be on a much different scale, but really they just eat at nicer restaurants and live in nicer houses. The irony is that at the time when we are most impressionable and are at the point in life to be influenced we tend to deify musicians and athletes and actors, when the reality is we should just appreciate what they do and keep it moving.

Now saying that in no way means that the mans music didn’t effect my life, because Nirvana came into prominence just as I started hearing music for more than just noise coming out of a boombox. He was great at what he did. He was literally a respresentative of an entire generation of people. and still is. I don’t listen to Nirvana nearly as much as I used to, but I will admit that from time to time I break out In Utero and just bug out for a couple of hours. The crazy thing is that I hear something new every time. Still to this day, “Come As You Are” moves me to a place that that is almost indescribable. I wanted to bring that video back for you. Threw in  a couple of the Unplugged in New York if you need em!

If you don’t have the Nirvana Unplugged, go to iTunes now and do yourself the favor!